Traveling display apparatus for stores



2 sheets-sheet l1 AMay 20, 1941, L. w. BowERs TRAVELING DISPLAY APPARATUS FOR STORESl H Filed oct. l2v, 193s INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY 3.

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TRAVELNG DISPLAY APPARATUS FOR STORES l Filed oct. 27, 195s 2 sheets-sheet 2 BASKET BASKET 2.5

I MJ 32g.

INVENTOR. LYLE W. Bowmas BY l WM ATTORNEYS.

' thereacross.

this result in the particular installation shown herein will be described in detail hereinafter.

In order to save the customers the task of carrying their basket or other containers from their respective inspection stations to the checker stations, I have provided the conveyors G and H referred to hereinbefore, it being noted that these conveyors are located for convenient access by the customers at all of the inspection stations. When a customer shall have placed in one or more baskets or containers 26 all of the articles desired to be purchased, the baskets or containers may then be placed upon thecon-` veyors G or H whereby theywillbe carriedv to the appropriate checker station. The customers can then pay for their purchases at such stationv in the manner usual in stores of theself-service type.

Reference has been made hereinbefore to the ability of the conveyor shown herein to make short turns at the ends of the loops,whereby veconomy'offspace is obtained. If also accomplish this .economy as well as economy in fthe coenstruction of the trucksby providing eachV truck with a single pair ofjwheels located adjacentV to one end thereof and by ,supporting the opposite'end from rthe adjacent-Wheeled end of the tr-'dcknext adjacent thereto. For convenience-of yd esf'z'r'ip'- tion,y the end of each truck adjacent 'to which the wheelsare located will be referred to hereinafter as thekffront? end andA its opposite'end -will be referred to as the rear end. The means'whereby this supportv is obtained is shownvm'o're particularly in ligsj and 6 and-comprises a bar 34 having one pendsecured to'and beneath the `rear end of ,each truck and its other end slidably and pivotally connected toand beneath the front end portion of the car next behind;-

In Figs. 3 and 6, U-bolts 35 are shown! as fsecuring an end of the bar beneath the rear'end portion of one'of the trucks while'the other end of theY said' bar-is slidably supported by and' beneath the front of the next truck las by means of al U-shapedyoke 36 whichis lsupportedbya swiveled pin 36a mounted'inthe floororother convenient portion of the last mentioned truck,

the yoke supporting a roller 3T and the end of the bar' 34 being received within the yoke ontop 'of the roller.

As pointed out hereinbefore, the trucksI are provided each with a pair of wheels located adjacent. to yone endthereoi AThese wheelsv are ,mounted on shafts 38 which are journaled Vin hangersV 29a shown as depending from opposite sides of acasting 29b which casting is pivotally supported from the floor cf the truck, as by means' ofv a vertical pivot pin 29c extendingr through an aperture located centrally between the hangers, the said aperture being shown herein as located in the center of a crossL bar' 2&1V carried by the said casting and extending The pivot pinV may be supported connecting the adjacent ends df the said trucks,

fromv-the iioor or! other convenient portion of the truck.

By the manner of mounting the wheels and connecting the` ends ofl the trucks, it will be evident, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, thatvthe trucks will be enabled to make -veryshort rturns whirl` will not only enable the Customers lto in-Y spect and select articles without the necessity for walking through long aisles as well as without: the necessity for carrying articles which they may purchase to a checker station, but that I have also produced an apparatus or system which is capable of being installed in rooms available for use as stores which may vary greatly in dimensions. While I have shown a conveyor apparatus comprisingy a plurality of loops, it will be'evident that, where the room available for use is narrow, a conveyor using only one or two loops may be employed; also, that when the space available for use as a store is materially wider than that'- indicated herein, a corresponding increase in the number of conveyor loops may be employed, together with a like increase in the number of inspection stations, checking stations, and'conveyors leading to such checking stations.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: v A

1. In an apparatus for the vending Vof mer- "chandise, aconveyor comprising a plurality of ported between the rails.

3.y In an apparatus for the vending of merchandise, rails arranged to form one or more extended looped projections, trucks each having a display cabinet thereon and each having a pairof wheels mountedupon the rails, and means said means comprising a bar connected to one end of'eachtruck andslid'ably and pivotally connected-to ythe'adja'ce'nt end of the next adjacent truck, and meansfor 'moving the trucks along the rails provided therefor.

4. In an apparatus for the vending of merchandise, rails arranged to form one or more eX- tendedlooped projections. trucks each having a "display cabinet-'thereon and .eachhaving a pair of wheels' adjacent` to one end thereof and mounted upon the rails, means connecting the other end 'of each truck with the wheeled end of a truck adjacent thereto, said means comprising abarconnected to such other end and slidably and pivotally connected to the wheeled end ofthe truck adjacent thereto, and means for driving the trucks along the said rails. Y 5L- In the combination recited in claim 4, means pivotally supporting each pair of wheels from its respective truck and the means for driving the trucks along the rails comprising a chain located'between the rails and means for connecting ,oneor more of said trucks to and for disconnecting the same from the said'cable. i

6, In an apparatus for the vending of merchandise, a track arranged to form one or more extended looped projections, trucks each having a display cabinetthereon and each mounted to travel along said track, 'means connecting the adjacent ends oaf the said trucks, said means comprising a bar connected to one endof each truck and s lidably and pivotally connected to the adjacent end of the next adjacent truck, and means for moving the trucks along the track.

'7. In an apparatus for the vending of merchandise, rails arranged to form one or more extended looped projections, trucks each having a display cabinet thereon and each having a pair of wheels pivotally supported adjacent to one end thereof and mounted upon the rails,

means connecting the other end of each truckv with the wheeled end of a truck adjacent thereto, said means comprisinga bar connected to such other end and slidably and pivotally connected to 10 

